Contested easement issue gets personal in Bernardsville

BERNARDSVILLE- Take an existing easement through
a Borough Councilman's property, add a request to extend a natural
gas line by a fellow councilman and some homeowners, mix in an
inference of a personal grudge and you get the thorny matter that
now sits in the lap of the municipal attorney.

The heart of the issue is whether a gas line
should be run from the end of Laurelwood Drive onto Crestview
Drive, through an easement on the property of Councilman John
McCrossan and his wife, Mary. The McCrossans' property sits on the
end of Laurelwood, not far from Crestview.

A petition advocating the gas line extension
was presented to the Borough Council at its Monday, Sept. 28
meeting. The easement, however, specifically allows only for a
water line and a hiking/pedestrian trail.

The 18 petitioners include Crestview Drive
property owners Jennifer Walsh and Tara Rossi, daughters of Councilman Joseph Rossi.
Both McCrossan and Rossi recused themselves during the discussion
the governing body held on the matter.

Councilman Rossi and Tara Rossi have interests
in Tara Contracting, which is constructing a new energy-efficient
home on Crestview after tearing down an older home.

McCrossan and Joseph Rossi were running mates
as independent candidates in 2005, but have sometimes found
themselves at odds politically since then.

Speaking before the council, Walsh questioned
whether McCrossan's opposition to having a gas line run through the
existing 14-year-old easement on his property was a "personal
thing."

On Monday, McCrossan denied the assertion. "My
wife and I feel we're being targeted as being uncooperative to
people who want cheaper and cleaner heat," McCrossan said. "It's
not personal with me. It's about business and protecting my
investment."

"They are the ones who are making it
personal," he added.

The matter is under review by Borough Attorney
John Pidgeon, who will look into the Planning Board documents
related to the approval of the Laurelwood development in the
1990s.

Pidgeon's preliminary conclusion was that the
governing body does not have the legal authority to allow a utility
company to construct a gas line through the easement on McCrossan's
property. He based that opinion on the wording of the easement
document signed by the McCrossans in 1995.

"As I read the document, it's limited to water and the
trail," he said. While there are electricity and telephone lines
running through the property, Pidgeon said those appear to predate
the granting of the easement.

At the meeting, however, Walsh remained
unconvinced. She continually referred to the easement on
McCrossan's property as a "utility easement" since telephone and
electric power lines also run across it. "Every other utility runs
through this easement currently except gas," said Walsh.

Walsh called the wording of the easement
document "vague," adding that Crestview homeowners would like
access to gas heat, which is expected to drop in price. The
street's homes now tend to have oil heat.

Another existing gas line could be extended
across Route 202 to Crestview, Walsh said, but homeowners have been
told by the utility company they would then be on the hook for
$80,000 worth of street repairs.

"If you look back at history, I don't think
(the easement) was intended to block one neighborhood from
receiving a specific utility at some point in the future," said
Walsh.

Walsh said attempts by the homeowners to
discuss the issue with the McCrossans "were not greeted
favorably."

Council members who participated in last
week's discussion appeared sympathetic to the homeowners' quest for
cheaper heat. But they were also reluctant to allow for the gas
line extension without solid legal footing.

Councilman Joseph DeMarco said he was
concerned about allowing for the extension without clearance from
Pidgeon. "Then we create a problem for ourselves," he told
Walsh.

McCrossan immediately recused himself from the
council discussion when Walsh began to speak. He also called for
Rossi's withdrawal because of his ownership of the property on
Crestview Drive under development.

"Are you a member of Tara Contracting?" asked
Honecker. "Yes I am," Rossi replied.

"Then you own the property and I think you
should recuse yourself," said Honecker.

Rossi then agreed to leave the council
dais.

Political
Fallout?

Pidgeon's review of the planning record will
steer the council's decision, but the related political fallout
might continue.

Walsh argued the residents' case before the
council. But both Rossi and McCrossan said on Monday that Rossi
made the first overtures about the gas line extension to his
council colleague.

Each councilman gave accounts that differed
somewhat.

Rossi said the first conversation took place more than two
years ago. McCrossan said he believed it was more recent, perhaps
more than a year ago.

Rossi said the new home being built by Tara
Contracting is equipped for either propane or gas heat. "The
biggest concern is not my daughter's home, it's the 20 other homes
on the street that can't get natural gas," he said.

Rossi said that during his initial contact,
McCrossan asked for time to think over granting the gas line
extension. "From that point forward, I let my daughters deal with
it," Rossi said.

Rossi said he believes past clashes between he
and McCrossan may be a factor in his colleague's opposition to a
gas line.

"There's got to be more to it than not putting
a gas line through a wooded area," Rossi said.

The easement document, McCrossan noted, was
drawn up by an attorney for the developer who built his home. Its
purpose, he said, was to allow for a water line without tearing up
the lawn and landscaping that was installed soon after he purchased
his home.

McCrossan said he and his wife discussed the
gas line request. "We decided it was not in our best interests to
do it," he said. Later, McCrossan said, he began to get contacts
from some of the other Crestview property owners.

During last week's meeting, Crestview
homeowners told the council that a no trespassing sign had been put
up on the easement. The council said that since there is pedestrian
access through the property, the sign would be taken
down.

McCrossan said Monday he did not post the
sign.

"I don't know where it came from," he said. "I
heard about it after the meeting and went over and took it
down."

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